Actually a think the puppy analogy was a bad one. I use it for myself to understand what is like to have absolutely no interest in something, but there's a lot of consent issues around it. I guess it's more like how you would think of family. People are evolutionary and socially conditioned to have no sexual desire towards family members, and it's still a 2 person consensual and (usually) loving relationship.

Maybe you could use your current gender, but for some people they want to include that variability in their identity. Just because they are also male/female/whatever doesn't change that they have identified as something else in the past, and they want to include that in their current self.

Is all attraction about looks? There are men who look feminine and women who look masculine and intersex people who choose to dress one way or another. And it's not true that the only two visible genders are male and female. There are trans women who keep their beards, people who dress entirely androgynously, there are cis men who like to wear pretty dresses but still identify as male. I think saying 'all people conform to these two things' is dismissing all the people that do. It may be a majority, but not all.

I tend to think of it like this (I am assuming a couple of things about you, but they are likely to be true, also sorry, this is a bit gross): Image having sex with a puppy. You may love puppies and think they are cute and you want one as a friend, but that is still revolting and not something you would ever willingly do. I wouldn't say 'oh you just have a low libido', its that you just don't have any reason to. You could argue that you can have low libido to anything because it is just a lack of desire, but then maybe there should be a descriptor for something totally outside that scale.

So you think people shouldn't try and find others like them for support? Being part of one society does not prevent someone from being a part of a different one too. I do think that very insular societies can be unhealthy, but that doesn't mean that groups of people with certain identities or issues can't have a group around them.

Sorry, perhaps I phrased poorly. There were large groups of colonialists that went to the Americas due to religious persecution, Quakers and Puritans and so on.

Treating their perceived identity as mental illness and something you want to make them fix is the first way you make them feel rejected. Yes it is odd, but is it harmful to others? If the biggest issue with how someone wants to be is that others hurt them for it, then are they the ones that should be made to change?

I'm not saying that thinking you are literally a dog/cat/wolf/space whale isn't potentially an issue, but I do think that making them feel safe and welcomed is the first way to help them.

Also side note - not all beast/whatever-kin actually literally think that they are an animal/other being. For a fair few of them it is an equivalent of belief in reincarnation (they have been an X in a past life), which is usually not treated as mental illness. When you get to that point then you start having to argue with religion, which right now I'd rather not do.

Fluid isn't usually used to mean over the span of hours, it's a term for anyone who feels like their gender had changed at some time in their life.

Panromantic:
Pan is any gender or sex including male, female, trans, intersex (by biology or choice) or any other gender/sex. Bi is specifically only men or women.
Not being interested in sex as a sexual identity is not the same as having a low libido. It's not that they want it but not too often, it's that they don't want it. That's not to say that there can't ever be exceptions, but there are always exceptions to labels like these.

If someone has formed their own society with its own quirks because they feel so uncomfortable in general society, is there something wrong with that? That's how many cultures form (oh hey modern america). I find it strange that it often involves fur suits, but I find it strange that Cornish people have a tradition of dancing around in face paint hitting sticks together.

If you would rather they stay a part of general society then maybe accepting some weirdness and talking to them as if they are human beings with all the same issues as anyone else is a good thing. That's what I took from the article anyway.

I'm not really sure why you don't see fluid or panromantic as valid. Lots of people are unsure about their gender through their life and it can change. Panromantic is just 'I can fall in love with anyone". I find all the beastkin stuff quite strange but sometimes it is easier to identify with an animal that you feel a deep attachment to than humans that you really don't.

I really like this, seeing their thoughts on what went well/badly is interesting. I think it lacks depth (background getting darker into the distance), but that gives it a sort of fantastical feel which is really nice. Do you know what brand of oils they use?

I'd be careful with polyphasic sleep, my friends that have tried it said that they quickly lost any sense of time, and it's incredibly hard to interact with everyone else (because of the varying sleep cycle). There's also the downside that you have less flexibility than a standard sleep cycle. Miss one nap and it will knock you out for days.

I see what you mean. Maybe it's the phrasing that made me uncomfortable, if they had included an 'only' in there then I think it would be more clear (ie while some have only good deeds) or primarily, or something. The way I read it now is 'while some people want to good deeds, other people don't - they want to be sexual'.

Maybe I'm being too sensitive about it. I am often wary (especially in Japanese media) of sexuality being portrayed as a negative thing.

Sleeping bags should be expensive and valuable (if possible) , you are trusting your unconscious body to them. I used cheap ones for ages until I tried a friends good quality one. When you realise the difference it makes and how much more you will use it, the price seems a lot more reasonable.

Yeah I used to until I looked it up. When you think about the kind of chemicals used in other cleaning agents it kind of makes sense - and to really get the ingrained dirt out you've got to beat things up!

I mostly use showers as a way to wake up, so a really hot blast of water in the morning is great. Also, like wario said, even the shortest nap makes me clammy and sweaty and gross. I also have the issue that I have a lot of hair, so sleeping with it wet just makes everything soggy.

I understand disallowing him from the career, and paying back the money, and even the jail time, but I don't see how deporting him away from his family has anything to do with medical research. From the article it didn't sound like he was in it for money, or even fame, so why make him leave the country?

While it sort of does the job, maybe a more general tag would be more appropriate. To me, ghost stories are a specific part of horror whereas it would be nice to just have a general creepy/spooky/horror tag.

While I think what he did was stupid and wrong, separating him from his wife and children on top of 57 months jail, 3 years supervision, banning him from his career, and having to repay $7.2 million sounds a bit excessive.